Women in Rail Publishes End of Year Report 2023
Women in Rail has published its End of Year Report, charting the charity’s progress in improving gender balance, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) across the UK rail industry.
The Women in Rail End of Year Report 2023 turns the spotlight on 12 months of achievements and initiatives and outlines the objectives and priorities to deliver the organisation’s strategic purpose to 2026.
“The last year has seen Women in Rail achieve remarkable progress in increasing engagement, relevancy and impact,” comments Marie Daly, Women in Rail chair.
“Against the backdrop of a challenging year for the UK rail industry, not least sustained industrial action, the charity continued to be a driving force for females within the rail sector”
“As an organisation we remain unapologetic in our pursuit of gender equity and will continue to seize opportunities to effect tangible and meaningful change to drive sustainable progress.”
The sold-out Women in Rail Conference marked the end of the 10th anniversary celebrations and presented an opportunity to reflect on the charity’s journey so far and address the significant progress in EDI in UK rail.
The charity strengthened its board with the appointment of six new trustees, each bringing their unique expertise and influence.
SWiFT, Women in Rail’s peer-to-peer networking platform for executive members, staged its first Executive Coaching session and increased both membership and the schedule of events and insightful talks from inspirational leaders.
While the cross-industry mentoring programme yielded impressive results with 41% of mentees promoted during or after taking part and 43% of mentors now advocates for EDI in their workplaces.
The EDI Charter for Rail, established jointly by Women in Rail and the Railway Industry Association, and the Working Group that supports it continued to gather momentum and saw the Working Group launch a monthly online Discussion Forum and start delivering high-profile events for the wider rail industry.
Demonstrating a growing commitment from the UK rail industry to improving gender balance and EDI across the sector, Women in Rail’s annual flagship events, the Women in Rail Awards and The Big Rail Diversity Challenge, continued to go from strength-to-strength with the awards receiving a record number of nominations.
There was also a significant increase in Corporate Membership and Regional Group activities in the 12 months, enabling companies to showcase their industry leadership and active support for Women in Rail’s objectives nationwide.
